Combination sofa and bed



Oct. 18, 1949. s. SHUMSKY COMBINATION .SOFA AND BED Filed Nov. i4, 1945s Sheets-Sheet 1 I I. I .v a m INVENTOR. .swadzsxy,

Oct. 18, 1949. s sHu s 2,485,219

COMBINATION SOFA AND BED Filed NOV. 14, 1945 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 [NVEN TOR.flaws/(X II II II II II I I I I I I I l l I I I I I l I I I .-u '1 I III Patented Oct. 18, 949

UNITED STATES ATENT OFFICE.

This invention relates to combination articles of furniture, and moreparticularly to an article of furniture which embodies in one unit botha couch, sofa or the like and a bed, the article being readilyconvertible from the sofa to the bed and vice versa.

The main object of the invention is the provision of a combinationarticle of furniture as stated above, which is readily and with aminimum of effort convertible from a comfortable sofa into a comfortablebed, and vice versa. The instant invention, in fact, requires so littlephysical effort to make the above conversion that it may be easilyaccomplished in practically an instant of time even by frail women orsmall children.

Another object of the invention is the provision of simple andpositive-acting interconnecting linkages and the like whereby the broadobjects of the invention are accomplished, and also to provide asubstantial and durable structure and mechanism which is at the sametime economical and inexpensive in cost of manufacture.

The above as well as additional objects will become apparent in thefollowing description, wherein characters of reference refer tolikenumbered parts on the accompanying drawings. It is to be noted thatthe drawings are intended primarily for the purpose of illustration, andthat it is neither desired nor intended to limit the scope of theinvention to any or all of the specific details of construction shownexcepting insofar as they might be deemed essential to the invention.

Referring briefly to the drawings,

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view, with parts broken away and partly insection, of the combination article of furniture in condition for use asa bed.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1, showing themajor portion of the article of furniture in plan view.

Fig. 3 is a side elevational view, with parts broken away and partly insection, of the combination article of furniture in condition for use asa sofa.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary of either Fig. 1 or Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 6 is a sectional of Fig. 3, with clarity.

Referring in detail to the drawings, the numeral [0 indicates the frameof the article of front elevational view view taken on the line 6-6parts omitted for the sake of of the lever 23 has 1 Claim. (Cl. 5-34)furniture, which resembles that of a sofa and comprises the end membersI I, the rear and taller member [2, tied rigidly together by fourangleor channel-iron ties; the back tie is shown at I3, the front tie at[4, and the two side or end ties at l5.

The back rest or cushion l6 extends substantially the full width of thesofa. Corner panels or posts i1 provided at the rearends of the sideframes II, have pivot pins l8 passing through their upper ends andthrough of the cushion I6, thereby pivotally securing the cushion It tothe side frame members I l and permitting it to be swung from its normalsofa position shown in Fig. 3 to its out-of-the-way position shown inFig. 1 when the article of furniture is used as a bed. The upper edge ofthe cushion l6, Fig. 3, is provided with a ledge-like extension 20rearward whereby the sofa is given a finished appearance and the openspace below the ledge, and the mechanism which might other.. wise beseen therein, are concealed.

Adjacent each ear [9, a second ear 2| is secured to the side edge of thecushion l6, and an arcuate link 22 has one end pivoted thereto, theother end of the link 22 being pivoted to one end of a lever 23 which inturn is pivoted intermediate its length to the panel IT, at 24. The freeend 25 the upper end of a tension spring 26 anchored therein, the otherend of the v spring being attached to the panel ll at 27 near the lowerend of the latter. It is apparent that the weight of the cushion l6maintains it in the folded down or sofa position shown in Fig. 3 and atthe same time maintains the spring 26 under tension; so that,' when thecushion i6 is lifted the force of the spring assists in the liftingoperation and thereby reduces the degree of effort required, and thespring also releasably looks or maintains the lifted cushion in theposition shown in Fig. 1.

A front panel member 28, forming part of the frame [0, extends acrossthe front of the frame between the front uprights 29 of the side or endframe members H. Rearward thereof, and supported on the forward ends ofthe ties l5, are upright angle irons or the like 3!). Somewhat rearwardof the uprights 30 are a pair of upright channels 3| also rigidlysupported on the ties IS. A pair of parallel members 32, adapted toserve as rear legs for the bed when the article of furniture is inextended position, are pivoted at their lower extremities to the ties l5rearward of the uprights 3|. Rigid arms 33 are secured at 1191 ears I9in the ends 3 stantially right angles to the members 32 nearer the upperends of the latter.

When in extended condition to serve as a bed,

. the mattress 35 is supported either directly, if it is of an innerspring type, on the then horizontal frame 34, or on a spring, which maybe formed by the wires or the like 36 drawn or stretched between themembers of the frame 34, the wires 36 being preferably of the strandedtype to provide for bending thereof. The particular type of mattressused, or the manner of supporting it on the frame 34 or Spring 36, is ofcourse of no consequence to the invention, nor is the particular type ofspring which may be used. The frame 34 comprises three sections, theforward U-shaped section 31, the rear U-shaped section 38, and theintermediate section 39 which comprises merely a pair of like parallelbars 40. The forward section 31 includes the yoke 4| having the arms 42rigid therewith, the ends 45 of the bars 48 of the section 39. Thesection 38 is substantially like the section 31 and comprises the yoke43 and its arms 44, thelatter being pivoted at their extremities 4Bto-the otherends of the bars 45. All of these frame members arepreferably formed of angle irons.

The upper extremities of the legs 32 are pivoted at 41 to the rearwardends of the yoke arms 44. Pivoted at one end 50 nearthe top of each upright so is an elongated link 48 having a longitudinal slot 49therethrough. Pivoted near one end at 5| to the upper end of the upright31, on each side, is a lever 52 having its extension 53 beyond the pivot5| curved substantially as shown. A pin 54 in the other end of the lever52 registers slidably in the slot 49 of the link 48. A tension spring 55has one end secured to the curved extremity 53 of the lever 52 and theother end secured to the leg '32 at 56. A l-ug 5'! is pivoted at one end58 at the free end of the lever 48; a tension spring 59 has one endsecured to the free end of the lug '57 and the other end to theextremity of the arm '33.

The sofa seat 60 has a turned down forward edge or apron 6t; when thearticle or'furniture is used as a sofa, Fig. 3, the seat. '50 rests uponthe arms 42 of the yoke 31 of. the frame 34, at. the rear, and at thefront the apron -61 rests upon the upper edge of the panel 28. Depending62 and 53 are provided on both sides of the seat 60. Links 65 pivoted atone end in the ears 62: are pivoted at their other ends in theupperiFig.3) edges of the links 48-, nearer the pivoted end 50 thereof, as shownat 54. Links 65 are pivoted at one end to the ears 53 and at the otherend at El to the yoke arms 42. Brackets 68 are secured: to the yoke arms42 and pivoted atone endthereto are links 69 having their other endspivoted.

in the free extremities of the levers 43,

Assuming that the article of furn-iturelis inlthe condition shown inFig. 3, used as a so fa, audit is desired to convert it to use as bed,the cushion I6 is first raised, in the manner previously described, intothe position shown in Fig. L It. is.

to be noted that the U-shaped front legs. 111,

which comprise the yokes TI and arms 12 rigidly secured to the yoke 41of the frame 34,. are positioned between the cushion IE and the. frameback 12 when the article is used as a sofa, and.

the yokes ll thus serve as handles or grips for. lifting the framesection 31 in a swinging movement (counterclockwise, Fig. '3.) Thus,with the cushion IB raised out of theway, the yokes, or

one of them, are grasped and pulled upward "and outward. Itis to benoted that, the condition arms 42 being pivoted to the u shown in Fig.3, the springs 55 are under tension, so that, as will become apparent,they thereby assist in the extension or conversion of the sofa into abed. As the yokes 10 are thus raised and swing the yoke 31 in acounterclockwise direction about the pivots 45, the links 69 lift thefree ends of the levers 48 and cause these levers to swing about theirpivots 50. This movement of members. 48 permits slidable movement of thepins 54 toward the left in the slots 49 and, at the same time, permitscontraction of the springs 55 which simultaneously assist in the raisingoperation by their lever-like action against th free ends of the links"1 --After the free ends of the links 48 have moved through an are equalin degrees to approximatel twice the angle made between the spring 55andthe horizontal, continued swinging in the same direction of the links48 will cause simultaneous dragging of the springs 59 with them andswinging of the legs 32 about their pivctson the frame'member's l5. rhelatter operation will cause the legs 32 to lift the yoke 38 of the frame34. In this manner it is apparent that the frame 34 will, in the extremeposition shown in Fig. 1, straighten out and be supported on its outeror front end by the yokes it which now serve as legs, At approximatelythe midpoint of the are through which the yokes 'Hl are thus swung fromthe original extrem to the final extreme position, the seat 60 willweight the moving frame on the left-hand side so that descent from thatpoint to the final position will be assisted-bygravity. Moreover,however, during the said final half of the movement, the springs 59 willbecome increasingly tensed, thus providing a cushioning effect to thedescent and preventing banging of the yokes ill on the floor. In thefinal position the seat 60 will hang by the links '65 and 65- from theyoke arms 42, as shown,' under the bed and out of the way; and theforward ends of the arms 44 of the frame 34 will rest on and besupported by the uprights 30.

Also, in the final position shown in Fig. 1, the leversil willsubstantially'align themselves with the links 48, the links 59 being ofsuch length as. to. prevent-the springs 59, now under tension,from-returning the links 48 in a counterclockwise direction: beyond thesaid aligned position. The springs 55 willalso besomewhat under tension.

To restore the article to the condition of a couch or sofa, the oke ispushed upward whence, assisted by the forces of the springs 59 undertension which thereupon begins to increase the momentum ofthe-counterclockwise swinging of the frame section 38; the various partsare readily and withcut much effort restored to the original sofacondition; with the sofa seat 60 settling into proper position. The sofacushion E5 is then folded back down'tc the position shown in Fig. 3.ngam, "it isto'be not'edthat as the mechanism approaches this originalcondition, the springs 55 are tensed; as shown in Fig. 3, thus making ite-a'syagain to convert to a bed when desired.

it is tobe noted that the construction described permits of conversionof a sofa of standard dimensions into a wide 'or double bed. Themattress 35 is of course flexible and readily assumes eithertheflattened out condition or the folded up condition shown in Fig. 3. Anadditional front cross member 14', previously mentioned, serves to brace"the forward part 'of'tlie frame 'I0'1at'erally..

In the case of this as well as any. or all other members which have beenreferred to as angle irons 'orchannels. it"is of course to be understoodthat they may be of any desired or suitable crosssectional conformation.

Obviously, modifications in form and structure may be made withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the invention.

I claim:

A combination sofa and bed comprising a front and a back member and endmembers, said end members having horizontal mutually parallel bracesextending across the lower ends thereof, said front member being shorterin height than said back member, a back cushion pivotally securedadjacent said back member, a folding frame comprising a frontsubstantially U-shaped section and a rear substantially U-shaped sectionand an intermediate section, said sections being in pivotal engagementwith each other, a seat cushion, said sections in folded condition beingarranged in end view of said folding frame in the shape of a U with saidrear section positioned substantially parallel with said braces andadjacent thereto, said intermediate section extending upward from saidrear section substantially vertically, and said front section beingpositioned above and substantially parallel with said rear section, saidfront section having rigid yokes extending upward from the front endthereof, and means connecting said sections, said braces, said seatcushion, and said front member for, upon swinging said front memberforward through an arc of 180 degrees, straightening out said foldingframe into a horizontal plane with said rigid yokes serving as frontlegs for said straightened out frame, said means comprising rigiduprights at the front end of said end members, additional and shorterrigid uprights spaced rearward from said first uprights and on said endmembers, an elongated link having a longitudinal slot therein pivoted atone end to the upper end of each of said uprights, a lever pivotedadjacent one end to each of said second-named uprights near the top 6 ofthe latter and intermediate the length of the lever, one end of each ofsaid levers being curved, the other ends of said levers having pinstherein registering in said slots of said elongated links, linksconnecting the other ends of said elongated links with said frontsection, rigid members pivoted at one end to said braces intermediatethe length of the braces and pivoted at the other end thereof to therear of said rear section, said rigid members having rigid armsextending at right angles thereto, tension springs connecting said otherends of said elongated links with said rigid arms, additional tensionsprings connecting said curved ends of said levers with said rigidmembers intermediate the length of the latter, links pivoted at one endto the forward portion of said seat cushion and at the other end to saidelongated links, links pivoted at one end to the rearward portion ofsaid seat cushion and at the other end to said front section, andadditional links pivoted at one end to said forward section and at theother end to said free extremities of said elongated links.

SOLOMON SHUMSKY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS

